Heath and Chubb shine on service

Insurance broker Heath Lambert and Chubb Insurance Company were ranked highest by UK risk managers for their excellent levels of service, according to the results of StrategicRISK’s 2009 research survey.

In the study 90 UK risk managers were asked to rate the service performance of their brokers and insurers and an overall score was calculated for each company.

The brokers were measured against: responsiveness to the client; ability to understand the clients business; practical leverage with insurers; and level of risk expertise. Insurers were rated against speed of access to decision-makers; quality of cover; speed and accuracy of documentation; speed and fairness of claims handling.

“Chubb Insurance was placed first for its service to risk managers, with an overall score of 82%.

Respondents were also asked to name the company that had performed best and worst against each measure, and to give reasons for their selection. Risk managers were asked to consider only companies they had used in the last twelve months.

The grading of insurance brokers was a closely fought contest. Heath Lambert topped the table for overall performance with a score of 86%. Second place Willis was 4 points behind on 82%, while Lockton was in third place on 80%. Sixth place Aon was 11 points off the lead on 75%. HSBC Insurance Brokers tailed in last, 22 points behind Heath Lambert.

When it came to the service performance of insurers, Chubb Insurance was placed first for its service to risk managers, with an overall score of 82%. But it was an extremely tight race with a number of other insurers snapping at Chubb’s heals. FM Global and XL Insurance, were both ranked second place, just one point behind Chubb. The fourth placed insurer, QBE, was only 3 points off the lead. Swiss Re, in last place overall, was 16 points off the lead.

“The biggest spread of results was in relation to claims handling.

Looking at the individual service measures for the insurers, FM Global was ranked either first or second in all of the categories, except speed of access to decision-makers—in which it was placed second to last, just ahead of Swiss Re.

The biggest spread of results was in relation to claims handling. FM global again led the pack on 89%, with Chubb following in second place with 84%. Sixth placed QBE was 17 points behind FM Global with a score of 72%, while AXA Corporate Solutions in last place was 29 points off the lead.

Further information on the 2009 study, including how to obtain the full report, is available from Will Sanders: e-mail: william.sanders@strategicrisk.eu